build(deps): bump actions/cache from 5.0.5 to 6.1.0

Bumps [actions/cache](https://github.com/actions/cache) from 5.0.5 to 6.1.0.
- [Release notes](https://github.com/actions/cache/releases)
- [Changelog](https://github.com/actions/cache/blob/main/RELEASES.md)
- [Commits](27d5ce7f10...55cc834586)

---
updated-dependencies:
- dependency-name: actions/cache
  dependency-version: 6.1.0
  dependency-type: direct:production
  update-type: version-update:semver-major
...

Signed-off-by: dependabot[bot] <support@github.com>

.github/workflows/build.yml

@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ jobs:
             arch: amd64
     steps:
       - name: Code checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
+        uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0  # v7.0.0
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 

.github/workflows/changelog-linter.yml

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ jobs:
       contents: read
     runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
+      - uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0  # v7.0.0
         with:
           # needed for proper diff
           fetch-depth: 0

.github/workflows/check-commit-signed.yml

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
-        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
+        uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0  # v7.0.0
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0  # we need full history for commit verification
           persist-credentials: false

.github/workflows/check-licenses.yml

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Code checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
+        uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0  # v7.0.0
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ jobs:
       - run: go version
 
       - name: Cache Go artifacts
-        uses: actions/cache@27d5ce7f107fe9357f9df03efb73ab90386fccae  # v5.0.5
+        uses: actions/cache@55cc8345863c7cc4c66a329aec7e433d2d1c52a9  # v6.1.0
         with:
           path: |
             ~/.cache/go-build

.github/workflows/codeql-analysis-go.yml

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
+        uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0  # v7.0.0
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ jobs:
       - run: go version
 
       - name: Cache Go artifacts
-        uses: actions/cache@27d5ce7f107fe9357f9df03efb73ab90386fccae  # v5.0.5
+        uses: actions/cache@55cc8345863c7cc4c66a329aec7e433d2d1c52a9  # v6.1.0
         with:
           path: |
             ~/.cache/go-build
@@ -54,14 +54,14 @@ jobs:
           restore-keys: go-artifacts-${{ runner.os }}-codeql-analyze-${{ steps.go.outputs.go-version }}-
 
       - name: Initialize CodeQL
-        uses: github/codeql-action/init@e46ed2cbd01164d986452f91f178727624ae40d7  # v4.35.3
+        uses: github/codeql-action/init@8aad20d150bbac5944a9f9d289da16a4b0d87c1e  # v4.36.2
         with:
           languages: go
 
       - name: Autobuild
-        uses: github/codeql-action/autobuild@e46ed2cbd01164d986452f91f178727624ae40d7  # v4.35.3
+        uses: github/codeql-action/autobuild@8aad20d150bbac5944a9f9d289da16a4b0d87c1e  # v4.36.2
 
       - name: Perform CodeQL Analysis
-        uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@e46ed2cbd01164d986452f91f178727624ae40d7  # v4.35.3
+        uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@8aad20d150bbac5944a9f9d289da16a4b0d87c1e  # v4.36.2
         with:
           category: 'language:go'

.github/workflows/docs.yaml

@@ -18,13 +18,13 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Code checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
+        uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0  # v7.0.0
         with:
           path: __vm
           persist-credentials: false
 
       - name: Checkout private code
-        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
+        uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0  # v7.0.0
         with:
           repository: VictoriaMetrics/vmdocs
           token: ${{ secrets.VM_BOT_GH_TOKEN }}

.github/workflows/test.yml

@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: 'vm-runner'
     steps:
       - name: Code checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
+        uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0  # v7.0.0
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ jobs:
       - run: go version
 
       - name: Cache golangci-lint
-        uses: actions/cache@27d5ce7f107fe9357f9df03efb73ab90386fccae  # v5.0.5
+        uses: actions/cache@55cc8345863c7cc4c66a329aec7e433d2d1c52a9  # v6.1.0
         with:
           path: |
             ~/.cache/golangci-lint
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Code checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
+        uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0  # v7.0.0
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Code checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
+        uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0  # v7.0.0
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 

.github/workflows/vmui.yml

@@ -32,13 +32,13 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Code checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd  # v6.0.2
+        uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0  # v7.0.0
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
 
       - name: Cache node_modules
         id: cache
-        uses: actions/cache@27d5ce7f107fe9357f9df03efb73ab90386fccae  # v5.0.5
+        uses: actions/cache@55cc8345863c7cc4c66a329aec7e433d2d1c52a9  # v6.1.0
         with:
           path: app/vmui/packages/vmui/node_modules
           key: vmui-deps-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('app/vmui/packages/vmui/package-lock.json', 'app/vmui/Dockerfile-build') }}

app/vmagent/remotewrite/remotewrite.go

@@ -1064,7 +1064,7 @@ func (rwctx *remoteWriteCtx) TryPushTimeSeries(tss []prompb.TimeSeries, forceDro
 
 	copyTimeSeriesIfNeeded := func() {
 		if v == nil {
-			v := tssPool.Get().(*[]prompb.TimeSeries)
+			v = tssPool.Get().(*[]prompb.TimeSeries)
 			tss = append(*v, tss...)
 		}
 	}

app/vmui/packages/vmui/src/components/ExploreAlerts/BaseAlert/index.tsx

@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ const BaseAlert = ({ item, group }: BaseAlertProps) => {
       {!!Object.keys(item.annotations || {}).length && (
         <>
           <span className="vm-alerts-title">Annotations</span>
-          <table>
+          <table className="vm-annotations-table">
             <colgroup>
               <col className="vm-col-md"/>
               <col/>

app/vmui/packages/vmui/src/components/ExploreAlerts/BaseRule/index.tsx

@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ const BaseRule = ({ item, group }: BaseRuleProps) => {
       {!!Object.keys(item?.annotations || {}).length && (
         <>
           <span className="vm-alerts-title">Annotations</span>
-          <table>
+          <table className="vm-annotations-table">
             <colgroup>
               <col className="vm-col-md"/>
               <col/>

app/vmui/packages/vmui/src/pages/ExploreAlerts/style.scss

@@ -62,6 +62,13 @@
     padding-right: 40px;
   }
 
+  .vm-annotations-table {
+    tbody > tr > td {
+      vertical-align: top;
+      white-space: pre-line;
+    }
+  }
+
   display: flex;
   flex-direction: column;
   align-items: stretch;

docs/victoriametrics/Articles.md

@@ -114,6 +114,8 @@ See also [case studies](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/casestu
 * [QCon London 2026: Wrangling Telemetry at Scale, a Guide to Self-Hosted Observability](https://www.infoq.com/news/2026/03/self-hosted-observability/)
 * [How We Made Telemetry Queries 10x Faster: Chunk-Split Caching for Metrics, Logs, and Traces](https://mirastacklabs.ai/blog/chunk-split-caching/)
 * [Claude Code: creating Kubernetes debugging AI Agent for VictoriaMetrics](https://rtfm.co.ua/en/claude-code-creating-kubernetes-debugging-ai-agent-for-victoriametrics/)
+* [OpenTelemetry: OTel Collectors in Kubernetes and VictoriaMetrics Stack integration](https://itnext.io/opentelemetry-otel-collectors-in-kubernetes-and-victoriametrics-stack-integration-d907ed0a15a0)
+* [VictoriaMetrics vs Prometheus: my default, and when I still pick Prometheus](https://jorijn.com/en/blog/victoriametrics-vs-prometheus/)
 
 ## Third-party articles and slides about VictoriaLogs
 
@@ -154,13 +156,6 @@ See [our blog](https://victoriametrics.com/blog) for the latest articles written
 * [Why irate from Prometheus doesn't capture spikes](https://valyala.medium.com/why-irate-from-prometheus-doesnt-capture-spikes-45f9896d7832)
 * [VictoriaMetrics: PromQL compliance](https://medium.com/@romanhavronenko/victoriametrics-promql-compliance-d4318203f51e)
 * [How do open source solutions for logs work: Elasticsearch, Loki and VictoriaLogs](https://itnext.io/how-do-open-source-solutions-for-logs-work-elasticsearch-loki-and-victorialogs-9f7097ecbc2f)
-* [How vmagent Collects and Ships Metrics Fast with Aggregation, Deduplication, and More](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmagent-how-it-works/)
-* [When Metrics Meet vminsert: A Data-Delivery Story](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vminsert-how-it-works/)
-* [How vmstorage Handles Data Ingestion From vminsert](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmstorage-how-it-handles-data-ingestion/)
-* [How vmstorage Processes Data: Retention, Merging, Deduplication...](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmstorage-retention-merging-deduplication/)
-* [How vmstorage's IndexDB Works](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmstorage-how-indexdb-works/)
-* [How vmstorage Handles Query Requests From vmselect](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmstorage-how-it-handles-query-requests/)
-* [Inside vmselect: The Query Processing Engine of VictoriaMetrics](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmselect-how-it-works/)
 
 ### Tutorials, guides and how-to articles
 
@@ -178,12 +173,6 @@ See [our guides](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/guides/) for the up-to-date gu
 * [Prometheus storage: tech terms for humans](https://valyala.medium.com/prometheus-storage-technical-terms-for-humans-4ab4de6c3d48)
 * [Cardinality explorer](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/cardinality-explorer/)
 * [Rules backfilling via vmalert](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/rules-replay/)
-* [vmagent: Key Features Explained in Under 15 Minutes](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmagent-key-features-explained/)
-* [Prometheus Metrics Explained: Counters, Gauges, Histograms & Summaries](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/prometheus-monitoring-metrics-counters-gauges-histogram-summaries/)
-* [Prometheus Monitoring: Instant Queries and Range Queries Explained](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/prometheus-monitoring-instant-range-query/)
-* [Prometheus Monitoring: Functions, Subqueries, Operators, and Modifiers](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/prometheus-monitoring-function-operator-modifier/)
-* [Prometheus Alerting 101: Rules, Recording Rules, and Alertmanager](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/alerting-recording-rules-alertmanager/)
-* [Alerting Best Practices](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/alerting-best-practices/)
 
 ### Other articles
 

docs/victoriametrics/Cluster-VictoriaMetrics.md

@@ -57,10 +57,6 @@ Each service may scale independently and may run on the most suitable hardware.
 This is a [shared nothing architecture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared-nothing_architecture).
 It increases cluster availability, and simplifies cluster maintenance as well as cluster scaling.
 
-> Further reading, deep dives into how each service works internally:
-> - `vmstorage`: [How vmstorage Handles Data Ingestion From vminsert](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmstorage-how-it-handles-data-ingestion/), [How vmstorage's IndexDB Works](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmstorage-how-indexdb-works/), [How vmstorage Handles Query Requests From vmselect](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmstorage-how-it-handles-query-requests/).
-> - `vmselect`: [Inside vmselect: The Query Processing Engine of VictoriaMetrics](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmselect-how-it-works/).
-
 ![Cluster Scheme](Cluster-VictoriaMetrics-components.webp)
 
 ## vmui
@@ -838,7 +834,7 @@ This ensures that incoming metrics are evenly distributed across all `vmstorage`
 The downside is that a single slow vmstorage node can throttle the entire cluster.
 
 When `-disableRerouting=false` is enabled on `vminsert`, 
-the cluster will automatically [re-route writes](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vminsert-how-it-works/#31-rerouting) away from the slowest vmstorage node to preserve maximum ingestion throughput.
+the cluster will automatically re-route writes away from the slowest vmstorage node to preserve maximum ingestion throughput.
 
 Re-routing occurs only when all of the following conditions hold:
 - the storage send buffer is full.
@@ -881,7 +877,7 @@ See also [resource usage limits docs](#resource-usage-limits).
 
 ## Rebalancing
 
-Every `vminsert` node [evenly spreads (shards) incoming data](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vminsert-how-it-works/#3-sharding-and-buffering) among `vmstorage` nodes specified in the `-storageNode` command-line flag.
+Every `vminsert` node evenly spreads (shards) incoming data among `vmstorage` nodes specified in the `-storageNode` command-line flag.
 This guarantees even distribution of the ingested data among `vmstorage` nodes. When new `vmstorage` nodes are added to the `-storageNode`
 command-line flag at `vminsert`, then only newly ingested data is distributed evenly among old and new `vmstorage` nodes, while
 historical data remains on the old `vmstorage` nodes. This speeds up data ingestion and querying for the majority of production workloads,
@@ -1029,7 +1025,7 @@ By default, VictoriaMetrics offloads replication to the underlying storage point
 which guarantees data durability. VictoriaMetrics supports application-level replication if replicated durable persistent disks cannot be used for some reason.
 
 The replication can be enabled by passing `-replicationFactor=N` command-line flag to `vminsert`. This instructs `vminsert` to store `N` copies for every ingested sample
-on `N` distinct `vmstorage` nodes. This guarantees that all the stored data remains available for querying if up to `N-1` `vmstorage` nodes are unavailable. See [how `vminsert` replicates each sample to `N` `vmstorage` nodes](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vminsert-how-it-works/#4-replication-and-sending-data-to-vmstorage) for details.
+on `N` distinct `vmstorage` nodes. This guarantees that all the stored data remains available for querying if up to `N-1` `vmstorage` nodes are unavailable.
 
 Passing `-replicationFactor=N` command-line flag to `vmselect` instructs it to not mark responses as `partial` if less than `-replicationFactor` vmstorage nodes are unavailable during the query.
 See [cluster availability docs](#cluster-availability) for details.
@@ -1064,7 +1060,7 @@ deduplication can't be guaranteed when samples and sample duplicates for the sam
 - when `vmstorage` node has no enough capacity for processing incoming data stream. Then `vminsert` re-routes new samples to other `vmstorage` nodes.
 
 It is recommended to set **the same** `-dedup.minScrapeInterval` command-line flag value to both `vmselect` and `vmstorage` nodes
-to ensure query results consistency, even if [storage layer didn't complete deduplication](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmstorage-retention-merging-deduplication/#deduplication) yet.
+to ensure query results consistency, even if storage layer didn't complete deduplication yet.
 
 ## Metrics Metadata
 

docs/victoriametrics/README.md

@@ -1397,7 +1397,7 @@ in separate files under `part` directory - `timestamps.bin` and `values.bin`.
 The `part` directory also contains `index.bin` and `metaindex.bin` files - these files contain index
 for fast block lookups, which belong to the given `TSID` and cover the given time range.
 
-`Parts` are periodically merged into bigger parts in background. The [background merge](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmstorage-retention-merging-deduplication/#merge-process) provides the following benefits:
+`Parts` are periodically merged into bigger parts in background. The background merge provides the following benefits:
 
 * keeping the number of data files under control, so they don't exceed limits on open files
 * improved data compression, since bigger parts are usually compressed better than smaller parts
@@ -1532,7 +1532,6 @@ are **eventually deleted** during [background merge](https://medium.com/@valyala
 The time range covered by data part is **not limited by retention period unit**. One data part can cover hours or days of
 data. Hence, a data part can be deleted only **when fully outside the configured retention**.
 See more about partitions and parts in the [Storage section](#storage).
-See [how retention frees disk space](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmstorage-retention-merging-deduplication/#retention-free-disk-space-guard-and-downsampling) for details.
 
 The maximum disk space usage for a given `-retentionPeriod` is going to be (`-retentionPeriod` + 1) months.
 For example, if `-retentionPeriod` is set to 1, data for January is deleted on March 1st.
@@ -1635,7 +1634,6 @@ See how to request a [free trial license](https://victoriametrics.com/products/e
 This command-line flag instructs leaving the last sample per each `interval` for [time series](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/keyconcepts/#time-series)
 [samples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/keyconcepts/#raw-samples) older than the `offset`. The `offset` must be a multiple of `interval`. For example, `-downsampling.period=30d:5m` instructs leaving the last sample
 per each 5-minute interval for samples older than 30 days, while the rest of samples are dropped.
-See [Enterprise downsampling internals](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmstorage-retention-merging-deduplication/#retention-filters-and-downsampling-enterprise-plan) for details.
 
 The `-downsampling.period` command-line flag can be specified multiple times in order to apply different downsampling levels for different time ranges (aka multi-level downsampling).
 For example, `-downsampling.period=30d:5m,180d:1h` instructs leaving the last sample per each 5-minute interval for samples older than 30 days,

docs/victoriametrics/changelog/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ See also [LTS releases](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/lts-rel
 * BUGFIX: [vmui](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/single-server-victoriametrics/#vmui): keep only one header navigation dropdown (`Explore`, `Tools`) open at a time. Previously, hovering across two dropdowns could briefly leave both open due to the close delay. See [#11224](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/11224). Thanks to @antedotee for contribution.
 * BUGFIX: [vmagent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/): fix a possible data race when processing OpenTelemetry metadata. See [#11238](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/11238). Thanks to @nevgeny for contribution.
 * BUGFIX: [vmagent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/): flush pending persistent queue data to chunk file before updating the metadata. This prevents the metadata writer offset from getting ahead of the chunk file size and avoids losing the persistent queue after an unclean shutdown. See [#11192](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/11192).
+* BUGFIX: [vmagent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/): fix increased CPU and memory usage when `-remoteWrite.urlRelabelConfig` or `-remoteWrite.streamAggr.config` flags are used. The bug was introduced in [#10854](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/10854) and existed since [v1.147.0](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/releases/tag/v1.147.0). See [#11250](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/11250).
+* BUGFIX: [vmui](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/single-server-victoriametrics/#vmui): preserve newline formatting in alert and rule annotations on the Alerting page. See [#11171](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/11171).
 
 ## [v1.147.0](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/releases/tag/v1.147.0)
 
@@ -58,6 +60,7 @@ Released at 2026-07-06
 * FEATURE: [MetricsQL](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/metricsql/): improve the selection algorithm of [buckets_limit](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/metricsql/#buckets_limit) to remove consecutive empty buckets at the beginning and end to obtain more accurate min and max values. See [#10417](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/10417).
 * FEATURE: [vmalert](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmalert/): expose `vmalert_group_rule_results_limit` metric to indicate the number of alerts or recording results that a single rule within the group can produce. See [#11179](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/11179). Thanks to @vinyas-bharadwaj for the contribution.
 * FEATURE: [alerts](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/blob/master/deployment/docker/rules): add `AlertingRuleResultsApproachingLimit` and `RecordingRuleResultsApproachingLimit` alerting rules to [vmalert alerts](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/blob/master/deployment/docker/rules/alerts-vmalert.yml). These alerts notify when a rule's last evaluation samples exceed 90% of the configured group results limit. See [#11179](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/11179). Thanks to @vinyas-bharadwaj for the contribution.
+* FEATURE: [vmagent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/): add support for [Monitoring Data eXchange (MDX)](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#monitoring-data-exchange): the ability to route only metrics from VictoriaMetrics services to a specific `-remoteWrite.url`. MDX is useful for building monitoring-of-monitoring where one remote storage should receive the full metric stream and another should receive only VictoriaMetrics metrics. Enable per destination with `-remoteWrite.mdx.enable=true`. See [#10600](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/10600).
 
 * BUGFIX: all VictoriaMetrics components: cancel in-flight HTTP requests shortly before `-http.maxGracefulShutdownDuration` elapses during graceful shutdown, so they can drain and the shutdown completes cleanly within that window instead of timing out and exiting via `logger.Fatalf` -> `os.Exit`. This prevents skipping the storage flush and losing in-memory data when long-lived requests are in flight (such as VictoriaLogs live tailing). See [#1502](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaLogs/issues/1502).
 * BUGFIX: `vminsert` in [VictoriaMetrics cluster](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/cluster-victoriametrics/) and [vmsingle](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/single-server-victoriametrics/): properly check values range for the limits configured with flags `-maxLabelsPerTimeseries`, `-maxLabelNameLen` and `-maxLabelValueLen`. It must be in range `1..65535`. See [#11128](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/11128).
@@ -80,7 +83,6 @@ Released at 2026-06-22
 * FEATURE: [vmctl](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmctl/): add `-vm-headers` and `-vm-bearer-token` flags for authenticating requests to the VictoriaMetrics import destination. The flags are available in `opentsdb`, `influx`, `remote-read`, `prometheus`, `mimir`, and `thanos` vmctl sub-commands. See [#8897](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/8897).
 * FEATURE: [vmsingle](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/single-server-victoriametrics/) and `vmselect` in [VictoriaMetrics cluster](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/cluster-victoriametrics/): log calls to [/api/v1/admin/tsdb/delete_series](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/url-examples/#apiv1admintsdbdelete_series) API handler. This should help to identify events of metrics deletion from the database. See [#11104](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/11104).
 * FEATURE: [vmui](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/single-server-victoriametrics/#vmui): add the `last` value to graph legend statistics. See [#10759](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/10759).
-* FEATURE: [vmagent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/): add support for [Monitoring Data eXchange (MDX)](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#monitoring-data-exchange): the ability to route only metrics from VictoriaMetrics services to a specific `-remoteWrite.url`. MDX is useful for building monitoring-of-monitoring where one remote storage should receive the full metric stream and another should receive only VictoriaMetrics metrics. Enable per destination with `-remoteWrite.mdx.enable=true`. See [#10600](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/10600).
 
 * BUGFIX: [enterprise](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/enterprise/) [vmsingle](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/single-server-victoriametrics/) and `vmstorage` in [VictoriaMetrics cluster](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/cluster-victoriametrics/): properly expose metric `vm_retention_filters_partitions_scheduled_rows`. See [#11138](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/11138)
 * BUGFIX: [stream aggregation](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/stream-aggregation/): fix issue with producing aggregated samples with identical timestamps between flushes. See [#10808](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/10808).

docs/victoriametrics/stream-aggregation/README.md

@@ -645,9 +645,9 @@ See also [why you shouldn't put an aggregator behind a load balancer](https://do
 
 # Troubleshooting
 
-- [Unexpected spikes for `total` or `increase` outputs](#data-delay-and-staleness).
+- [Unexpected spikes for `total` or `increase` outputs](#staleness).
 - [Excessively large values for `total*`, `increase*`, and `rate*` outputs](#counter-resets).
-- [Lower than expected values for `total_prometheus` and `increase_prometheus` outputs](#data-delay-and-staleness).
+- [Lower than expected values for `total_prometheus` and `increase_prometheus` outputs](#staleness).
 - [High memory usage and CPU usage](#high-resource-usage).
 - [Unexpected results in vmagent cluster mode](#cluster-mode).
 - [Inaccurate aggregation results for histograms](#aggregation-windows)

docs/victoriametrics/vmagent.md

@@ -141,7 +141,6 @@ to other remote storage systems that support Prometheus `remote_write` protocol
 If a single remote storage instance is temporarily unavailable, the collected data remains available on the other remote storage instances.
 `vmagent` buffers the collected data in files at `-remoteWrite.tmpDataPath` until the remote storage becomes available again.
 Then it sends the buffered data to the remote storage in order to prevent data gaps.
-See how `vmagent` [selects shards and places replicas](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmagent-how-it-works/#step-4-sharding--replication) for implementation details.
 
 [VictoriaMetrics cluster](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/cluster-victoriametrics/) already supports replication,
 so there is no need to specify multiple `-remoteWrite.url` flags when writing data to the same cluster.
@@ -151,8 +150,7 @@ See [these docs](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/cluster-victor
 
 `vmagent` can add, remove, or update labels on the collected data before sending it to the remote storage.
 It can filter scrape targets or remove unwanted samples via Prometheus-like relabeling.
-Please see the [Relabeling cookbook](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/relabeling/) for configuration examples.
-For ingestion pipeline internals, see how `vmagent` [applies global relabeling and cardinality limits](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmagent-how-it-works/#step-2-global-relabeling-cardinality-reduction).
+Please see the [Relabeling cookbook](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/relabeling/) for details.
 
 ### Sharding among remote storages
 
@@ -270,9 +268,7 @@ for the collected samples. Examples:
   ```sh
   ./vmagent -remoteWrite.url=http://remote-storage/api/v1/write -streamAggr.dropInputLabels=replica -streamAggr.dedupInterval=60s
   ```
-
-See how `vmagent` [orders global deduplication and stream aggregation](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmagent-how-it-works/#step-3-global-deduplication--stream-aggregation) in the ingestion pipeline.
-
+  
 ### Monitoring Data eXchange
 
 The Monitoring Data eXchange (MDX){{% available_from "v1.147.0" %}} feature allows `vmagent` to forward only VictoriaMetrics metrics to selected `-remoteWrite.url` destinations while dropping metrics from non-VictoriaMetrics services.
@@ -361,8 +357,6 @@ in addition to the pull-based Prometheus-compatible targets' scraping:
 * Prometheus exposition format via `http://<vmagent>:8429/api/v1/import/prometheus`. See [these docs](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/single-server-victoriametrics/#how-to-import-data-in-prometheus-exposition-format) for details.
 * Arbitrary CSV data via `http://<vmagent>:8429/api/v1/import/csv`. See [these docs](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/single-server-victoriametrics/#how-to-import-csv-data).
 
-See how `vmagent` [handles concurrency, decompression, and stream parsing](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmagent-how-it-works/#step-1-receiving-data-via-api-or-scrape) during ingestion.
-
 ## How to collect metrics in Prometheus format
 
 Specify the path to the `prometheus.yml` file via the `-promscrape.config` command-line flag. `vmagent` takes into account the following
@@ -1004,7 +998,6 @@ This behavior can be changed with the `-remoteWrite.inmemoryQueues` {{% availabl
 When set to a non-zero value, vmagent starts the given number of additional workers,
 which send only recently ingested data from the in-memory queue, while the workers configured via `-remoteWrite.queues` drain the file-based backlog concurrently.
 This reduces the delivery lag for fresh samples after remote storage outages or slowdowns. The flag can be set individually per each `-remoteWrite.url`.
-See how the [in-memory and file-based queues manage blocks](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/vmagent-how-it-works/#in-memory-queue) for implementation details.
 
 Note that these workers are started in addition to the workers configured via `-remoteWrite.queues`, so the total number of concurrent connections to
 the remote storage becomes the sum of both flags. Take this into account if the remote storage limits the number of concurrent requests.

docs/victoriametrics/vmalert.md

@@ -982,9 +982,6 @@ Try the following tips to avoid common issues:
     In that case, the default step will be used (`-datasource.queryStep`) and may cause unexpected results compared to
     executing this query in vmui/Grafana, where step is adjusted differently.
 
-See [practical examples for reducing alert noise](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/alerting-best-practices/#reducing-noise),
-including aggregating alerts and configuring inhibition.
-
 ### Rule state
 
 vmalert keeps the last `-rule.updateEntriesLimit` updates (or `update_entries_limit` [per-rule config](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmalert/#alerting-rules))
@@ -1040,9 +1037,6 @@ Sometimes, it's hard to understand why a specific alert fired or not. Keep in mi
 If evaluation returns error (i.e. datasource is unavailable), alert state doesn't change.
 If at least one evaluation returns no data, then alert's `for` state resets.
 
-See [how to tune the `for` parameter](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/alerting-best-practices/#the-for-param),
-including its tradeoff with the query lookbehind window.
-
 > Note: The alert state is tracked separately for each time series returned during evaluation.
 > For example, if the 1st evaluation returns series A and B, and the 2nd evaluation returns only B – the alert will remain active **only for B**.
 
@@ -1116,9 +1110,6 @@ How to reduce the chance for a rule to flap:
 
 See [common mistakes](#common-mistakes) for rules config.
 
-See [how to tune `keep_firing_for`](https://victoriametrics.com/blog/alerting-best-practices/#the-keep_firing_for-param)
-to avoid alert flapping during brief data gaps.
-
 ### Never-firing alerts
 
 vmalert can detect {{% available_from "v1.91.0" %}} if alert's expression doesn't match any time series in runtime.

lib/storage/storage_synctest_test.go

@@ -551,7 +551,7 @@ func TestStorageAddRows_nextDayIndexPrefill(t *testing.T) {
 		nextDaySlowInserts := m.SlowPerDayIndexInserts
 		slowInserts := nextDaySlowInserts - currDaySlowInserts
 		if slowInserts >= numSeries {
-			t.Errorf("unexpected amount of slow inserts: got %d, want < %d", slowInserts, numSeries)
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected amount of slow inserts: got %d, want < %d", slowInserts, numSeries)
 		}
 
 	})
@@ -842,7 +842,7 @@ func TestStorageLastPartitionMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 		s.AddRows(mrs, defaultPrecisionBits)
 		s.DebugFlush()
 		if got := s.newTimeseriesCreated.Load(); got != want {
-			t.Errorf("unexpected number of new timeseries: got %d, want %d", got, want)
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected number of new timeseries: got %d, want %d", got, want)
 		}
 		// wait for merged parts to be attached to the table
 		time.Sleep(time.Minute)
@@ -1218,7 +1218,7 @@ func TestStorage_denyQueriesOutsideRetention(t *testing.T) {
 		slices.Sort(gotData)
 
 		if diff := cmp.Diff(wantData, gotData); diff != "" {
-			t.Errorf("unexpected tag value suffixes (-want, +got):\n%s", diff)
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected tag value suffixes (-want, +got):\n%s", diff)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -1487,3 +1487,100 @@ func TestStorageAddRows_MaxBackfillAge(t *testing.T) {
 		s.MustClose()
 	})
 }
+
+func TestStorageAddRows_currHourMetricIDs(t *testing.T) {
+	defer testRemoveAll(t)
+
+	f := func(t *testing.T, disablePerDayIndex bool) {
+		synctest.Test(t, func(t *testing.T) {
+			s := MustOpenStorage(t.Name(), OpenOptions{
+				DisablePerDayIndex: disablePerDayIndex,
+			})
+			defer s.MustClose()
+
+			now := time.Now().UTC()
+			currHourTR := TimeRange{
+				MinTimestamp: time.Date(now.Year(), now.Month(), now.Day(), now.Hour(), 0, 0, 0, time.UTC).UnixMilli(),
+				MaxTimestamp: time.Date(now.Year(), now.Month(), now.Day(), now.Hour(), 59, 59, 999_999_999, time.UTC).UnixMilli(),
+			}
+			currHour := uint64(currHourTR.MinTimestamp / 1000 / 3600)
+			prevHourTR := TimeRange{
+				MinTimestamp: currHourTR.MinTimestamp - msecPerHour,
+				MaxTimestamp: currHourTR.MaxTimestamp - msecPerHour,
+			}
+			rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(1))
+
+			// Test current hour metricIDs population when data ingestion takes the
+			// slow path. The database is empty, therefore the index and the
+			// tsidCache contain no metricIDs, therefore the data ingestion will
+			// take slow path.
+
+			mrs := testGenerateMetricRowsWithPrefix(rng, 1000, "slow_path", currHourTR)
+			s.AddRows(mrs, defaultPrecisionBits)
+			s.DebugFlush()
+			s.updateCurrHourMetricIDs(currHour)
+			if got, want := s.currHourMetricIDs.Load().m.Len(), 1000; got != want {
+				t.Fatalf("[slow path] unexpected current hour metric ID count: got %d, want %d", got, want)
+			}
+
+			// Test current hour metricIDs population when data ingestion takes the
+			// fast path (when the metricIDs are found in the tsidCache)
+
+			// First insert samples to populate the tsidCache. The samples belong to
+			// the previous hour, therefore the metricIDs won't be added to
+			// currHourMetricIDs.
+			mrs = testGenerateMetricRowsWithPrefix(rng, 1000, "fast_path", prevHourTR)
+			s.AddRows(mrs, defaultPrecisionBits)
+			s.DebugFlush()
+			s.updateCurrHourMetricIDs(currHour)
+			if got, want := s.currHourMetricIDs.Load().m.Len(), 1000; got != want {
+				t.Fatalf("[fast path] unexpected current hour metric ID count after ingesting samples for previous hour: got %d, want %d", got, want)
+			}
+
+			// Now ingest the same metrics. This time the metricIDs will be found in
+			// tsidCache so the ingestion will take the fast path.
+			mrs = testGenerateMetricRowsWithPrefix(rng, 1000, "fast_path", currHourTR)
+			s.AddRows(mrs, defaultPrecisionBits)
+			s.DebugFlush()
+			s.updateCurrHourMetricIDs(currHour)
+			if got, want := s.currHourMetricIDs.Load().m.Len(), 2000; got != want {
+				t.Fatalf("[fast path] unexpected current hour metric ID count: got %d, want %d", got, want)
+			}
+
+			// Test current hour metricIDs population when data ingestion takes the
+			// slower path (when the metricIDs are not found in the tsidCache but
+			// found in the index)
+
+			// First insert samples to populate the index. The samples belong to
+			// the previous hour, therefore the metricIDs won't be added to
+			// currHourMetricIDs.
+			mrs = testGenerateMetricRowsWithPrefix(rng, 1000, "slower_path", prevHourTR)
+			s.AddRows(mrs, defaultPrecisionBits)
+			s.DebugFlush()
+			s.updateCurrHourMetricIDs(currHour)
+			if got, want := s.currHourMetricIDs.Load().m.Len(), 2000; got != want {
+				t.Fatalf("[slower path] unexpected current hour metric ID count after ingesting samples for previous hour: got %d, want %d", got, want)
+			}
+			// Inserted samples were also added to the tsidCache. Drop it to
+			// enforce the fallback to index search.
+			s.resetAndSaveTSIDCache()
+
+			// Now ingest the same metrics. This time the metricIDs will be searched
+			// and found in index so the ingestion will take the slower path.
+			mrs = testGenerateMetricRowsWithPrefix(rng, 1000, "slower_path", currHourTR)
+			s.AddRows(mrs, defaultPrecisionBits)
+			s.DebugFlush()
+			s.updateCurrHourMetricIDs(currHour)
+			if got, want := s.currHourMetricIDs.Load().m.Len(), 3000; got != want {
+				t.Fatalf("[slower path] unexpected current hour metric ID count: got %d, want %d", got, want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+
+	t.Run("disablePerDayIndex=false", func(t *testing.T) {
+		f(t, false)
+	})
+	t.Run("disablePerDayIndex=true", func(t *testing.T) {
+		f(t, true)
+	})
+}

lib/storage/storage_test.go

@@ -3477,103 +3477,6 @@ func TestStorageAddRows_SamplesWithZeroDate(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
-func TestStorageAddRows_currHourMetricIDs(t *testing.T) {
-	defer testRemoveAll(t)
-
-	f := func(t *testing.T, disablePerDayIndex bool) {
-		t.Helper()
-
-		s := MustOpenStorage(t.Name(), OpenOptions{
-			DisablePerDayIndex: disablePerDayIndex,
-		})
-		defer s.MustClose()
-
-		now := time.Now().UTC()
-		currHourTR := TimeRange{
-			MinTimestamp: time.Date(now.Year(), now.Month(), now.Day(), now.Hour(), 0, 0, 0, time.UTC).UnixMilli(),
-			MaxTimestamp: time.Date(now.Year(), now.Month(), now.Day(), now.Hour(), 59, 59, 999_999_999, time.UTC).UnixMilli(),
-		}
-		currHour := uint64(currHourTR.MinTimestamp / 1000 / 3600)
-		prevHourTR := TimeRange{
-			MinTimestamp: currHourTR.MinTimestamp - 3600*1000,
-			MaxTimestamp: currHourTR.MaxTimestamp - 3600*1000,
-		}
-		rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(1))
-
-		// Test current hour metricIDs population when data ingestion takes the
-		// slow path. The database is empty, therefore the index and the
-		// tsidCache contain no metricIDs, therefore the data ingestion will
-		// take slow path.
-
-		mrs := testGenerateMetricRowsWithPrefix(rng, 1000, "slow_path", currHourTR)
-		s.AddRows(mrs, defaultPrecisionBits)
-		s.DebugFlush()
-		s.updateCurrHourMetricIDs(currHour)
-		if got, want := s.currHourMetricIDs.Load().m.Len(), 1000; got != want {
-			t.Errorf("[slow path] unexpected current hour metric ID count: got %d, want %d", got, want)
-		}
-
-		// Test current hour metricIDs population when data ingestion takes the
-		// fast path (when the metricIDs are found in the tsidCache)
-
-		// First insert samples to populate the tsidCache. The samples belong to
-		// the previous hour, therefore the metricIDs won't be added to
-		// currHourMetricIDs.
-		mrs = testGenerateMetricRowsWithPrefix(rng, 1000, "fast_path", prevHourTR)
-		s.AddRows(mrs, defaultPrecisionBits)
-		s.DebugFlush()
-		s.updateCurrHourMetricIDs(currHour)
-		if got, want := s.currHourMetricIDs.Load().m.Len(), 1000; got != want {
-			t.Errorf("[fast path] unexpected current hour metric ID count after ingesting samples for previous hour: got %d, want %d", got, want)
-		}
-
-		// Now ingest the same metrics. This time the metricIDs will be found in
-		// tsidCache so the ingestion will take the fast path.
-		mrs = testGenerateMetricRowsWithPrefix(rng, 1000, "fast_path", currHourTR)
-		s.AddRows(mrs, defaultPrecisionBits)
-		s.DebugFlush()
-		s.updateCurrHourMetricIDs(currHour)
-		if got, want := s.currHourMetricIDs.Load().m.Len(), 2000; got != want {
-			t.Errorf("[fast path] unexpected current hour metric ID count: got %d, want %d", got, want)
-		}
-
-		// Test current hour metricIDs population when data ingestion takes the
-		// slower path (when the metricIDs are not found in the tsidCache but
-		// found in the index)
-
-		// First insert samples to populate the index. The samples belong to
-		// the previous hour, therefore the metricIDs won't be added to
-		// currHourMetricIDs.
-		mrs = testGenerateMetricRowsWithPrefix(rng, 1000, "slower_path", prevHourTR)
-		s.AddRows(mrs, defaultPrecisionBits)
-		s.DebugFlush()
-		s.updateCurrHourMetricIDs(currHour)
-		if got, want := s.currHourMetricIDs.Load().m.Len(), 2000; got != want {
-			t.Errorf("[slower path] unexpected current hour metric ID count after ingesting samples for previous hour: got %d, want %d", got, want)
-		}
-		// Inserted samples were also added to the tsidCache. Drop it to
-		// enforce the fallback to index search.
-		s.resetAndSaveTSIDCache()
-
-		// Now ingest the same metrics. This time the metricIDs will be searched
-		// and found in index so the ingestion will take the slower path.
-		mrs = testGenerateMetricRowsWithPrefix(rng, 1000, "slower_path", currHourTR)
-		s.AddRows(mrs, defaultPrecisionBits)
-		s.DebugFlush()
-		s.updateCurrHourMetricIDs(currHour)
-		if got, want := s.currHourMetricIDs.Load().m.Len(), 3000; got != want {
-			t.Errorf("[slower path] unexpected current hour metric ID count: got %d, want %d", got, want)
-		}
-	}
-
-	t.Run("disablePerDayIndex=false", func(t *testing.T) {
-		f(t, false)
-	})
-	t.Run("disablePerDayIndex=true", func(t *testing.T) {
-		f(t, true)
-	})
-}
-
 // testSearchMetricIDs returns metricIDs for the given tfss and tr.
 //
 // The returned metricIDs are sorted. The function panics in in case of error.